UW-Milwaukee is quite concerned about current legislation that includes provisions that remove the deduction for interest paid on student loans. Adoption of this legislation would significantly increase the tax liability of our – and all – graduate students. This is not acceptable.

We are advocating for changes to the tax reform bill so students are not adversely affected. Keeping graduate education accessible and affordable is among our highest priorities.

We have been in direct contact with our Congressional representatives this week on Capitol Hill. We shared a statement from one of our graduate students regarding the bill’s impact and Congresswoman Gwen Moore included that statement in her speech to the House of Representatives.

We have joined forces with the UW System and federal relations lobbyists for Marquette, UW-Madison and the Medical College of Wisconsin to collectively make the case against the provisions of the tax reform bill. Last month, our University Relations office and Graduate School prepared an advocacy letter with resources and information that our students and greater community have used to communicate their concerns. Further, our distinguished professors issued a letter to the UW System, our Board of Regents and our congressional delegation.

In the week ahead, we will reinforce our lobbying efforts after the Senate and House conference committee is appointed to work out a compromise.

More broadly, we are concerned by how this bill could affect graduate education and many other elements of higher education. We join you in solidarity for the sake of higher education as we know it.